Multiple panel display board



Filed Feb. 11, 1947 FIG.

w 1/ H 1 a 5 8 5 M W 9 7, W I 6 m 9 2 I H 2 l 8 2 D r 2 gm 4 W 4 3 I/ G L. I .l W .6 nlv F F \H a 2 o M 9 I... 5 \8 w W l 2 l. 7 II M I /MDW. 9 O 5 m I 2 8 2 n. 4 W W m H m] p Gttonw Patented Oct. 17, 1950 UNITED f STATES PATENT OFFICE I i 2,526,603 I MULTIPLE PANEL DISPLAY BOARD William G. Damroth, New York, N. Y., assignor to Hile-Damroth, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of hlew'York I l Application February 11:, 1947, Serial No. 727,754

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to displayboards and more particularly to a board formed of a plurality of separate panels which can be used singly or can be aligned in edge to-edgefcoplanar relation and secured togethertoprovide a single board having 'one dimension equalto that of a single panel and having-anotherdimension equal to that of any multiple of the corresponding other dimension of a single panel.

While the invention is capable of embodiment in display boards generally and, indeed, in other articles of manufacture analogous to display boards, it is particularly adapted to be embodied.

rably mounted by adhesive, thumb tacks or other conventional means, or by the interengagement of the fibers ofthe board facing \vitl-i. granules forming the backing of theindicia-elements, in accordance with the Hile invention. V

A principal object of the present invention is to provide .a board of the-character indicated which can be made effectively extensible in one dimension, which may beits length orwidth, by

securing separate panel :elements together in.

edge-to-edge co-planar'relationd 1 l A related object is to provide a. board which can be knocked downor disassembled for purposes of transportation: or storage into aspace 1 much smaller than that .occupied by} the board when set up.

A further object is to provide a. plural-panel board with simple, effective durableand economical means by which the panels can 'be quickly connected and disconnected, I

Another object is to provide such a board with means for securing the panels togetherin such a way that the assembled panels :will be held :5

against edgewise separation" in their common plane and against movement relatively to "each other to an angular relationship less than that of a straight angle. 7

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be'evident'f-rom the following description of a preferred embodiment which illustrated in the accompanying drawin and which has been tested in actual practice and found entirely satisfactory so that it is at present preferred by me as the best mode in which-I contemplate applying the principles of.,-the'.-present invention. In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a plurality. of panels assembled toprovide a single board;

Fig.'2 is an end elevational view of the board} Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the "assembled panels, shown on a relatively enlarged scale;

Fig.4 is a detail rear elevational view, on a further enlarged scale, showing a portion of the joint between adjacent panels, provided with means for stiffening the joint;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 5-5. of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6, is a detail rear elevational view similar to that of Fig. 4 but showing the means for holding the adjacent panels against edgewise separation in their common plane.

Referring to these figures, the illustrated embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of panels, all made in generally similar fashion, designated I, 2, 3 and 4. Each of these panels is best made in the form of an outer frame of wood or the like composed of four rails, nailed, glued or otherwise connected to form a rectangular outline. This framework may be faced and covered on one side by a sheet of comparatively stiff material, such as cardboard, fiber board, thin wall board, plywood or the like, designated 5, which in turn may be covered by surfacing material 6 consisting of the fibrous woven or felted I fabric hereinabove referred to. The margins of this fabric may be turned under the edges of the sheet 5 and glued thereto, and the composite sheet may be secured tothe framework by tacking, gluing or in any other appropriate way.

The result is a rectangular panel bounded by .Wooden rails l at the top, 8 at the bottom and t and ID at the respective sides. This assembly may be completed by an intermediate cross rail ll spanning the approximate center of the frame to increase its rigidity and for a further plllpOSe hereinafter to be explained.

In order to provide a snug fit between adjacent" panels in the assembled board, and to assist in alignin thepanels accurately in a single plane when they are set together in edge-to-edge abut .ting relation, the side rails 9 and!!! may be respectively tongued as shown at l2 and grooved as shown at I3jin Fig. 5. However, since these tongues. and grooves function only in joining'together adjacent panels, those panels which are intended to be outermost of the assembly, such as the panels I and 4 in the illustrated embodiment, may have their extreme outer rails, such as the rails Ill, made plain, without any tongue or groove. I

The panels are provided with means for securing them together in such a way that they cannot be pulled apart and cannot move relativelv to each otherto an angularrelationship less than that of a straight angle. Such means is provided, according to the present invention,

in the form of a stiffening bar which spans each joint, in combination with a tension" element" I have found it convenient to provide the stif- 3 fening bar in the form of a conventional type of bolt I4 slid ably mounted in a bearing l5 which is secured to one panel so that the bolt can be extended across the joint and be inserted in a keeper is which is secured to the ad jacent panel. Each of the panels is provided with such a bolt or keeper. Those panels, such as the ones designated 2 and 3 in the drawing, which are intended to occupy an intermediate position in the assembled board, are provided with both a bolt and a keeper, but those panels, such as the ones designated I and 4, in the drawing, which are intended to occupy an end position in the assembled board, may have only a bolt or only a keeper, all as is illustrated in Fig. 3.

The bolts and keepers may be mounted direct 1y on the side rails 9 and HI, but it is preferable to mount them on the intermediate stiffening rails ll because the side rails are best made relatively narrow and hence do not provide adequate mounting surface, .as do the intermediate rails.

The tension means, for preventing edgewise separation of the panels, is conveniently provided in the form of hooks, such as are shown at IT mounted on a side rail 9 or Iii of each panel, for cooperation with a hook-receiving element, such as an eye or stud l8, mounted on the side rail ID or 9 of each adjacent panel. As in the case of the bolts and their keepers, it is unnecessary to form any hook or hook-receiving element on the outer side rails of the endmost panels.

The hooks and the bolts are best separated considerably along the length or height of the panels, so that the stiffening effect of each bolt is obtained at some distance fromthe connecting effect of each hook. However, it is not essential that these two kinds of fasteners be mounted precisely as shown in the drawing or that they be spaced exactly as there shown.

All Or some of the panels may optionally be provided with struts or. props l9 hinged at 29 to the top rails T and braced to one of the side rails or to the cross rails by a jointed bracket 2|, so that theboard may be self-supporting as an easel. panels may be provided with an eye or hook 22, like those shown projecting from the top rails I of the end panels I and 4, by which theassembled structure may be hung ona wall. This hanging is easil accomplished because the combined actions of the stiffening and tension means rigidifies the entire structure and prevents its collapse or disassembly regardless of where or how the structure is held. I

It will be observed that if the composite facing sheets formed by the elements 5, 6 extend more or less accurately to the plane of the edges of the side rails 9, ID, the joint between adjacent panels of the assembled board is rendered inconspicuous, so that there is no appreciable break in the over-all surface of the assembly. For this reason indicia pieces, even when they are quite small in size or area, can be attached anywhere on the assembly surface, including directly over the joints.

While the invention has been described in terms of display boards, and more particularly for embodiment in the type of display board generally referred to in the Hile patent application, it will be recognized that the principles of the invention are equally adapted for embodiment in other more or ,less analogous kinds In addition, each or some of the- 4 of structures in which it may be desirable to associate a series of panels in edgewise connected relation to increase the effective width or other dimension of the series.

The principles of the invention are pointed out by the appended claims,- in which the number of the panels is defined as a pair. This, of course, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the use of two panels only, but is intended to cover all embodiments of the invention in which a plurality of panels may be used, since any plurality of cooperating panels, such for example as the four shown in the drawing, necessarily includes a pair.

Iclaim:

1. A display board comprising a pair of separate panels each provided along one edge with a frame member having a configuration adapted to interlock with the frame member of the other panel when the two panels are abutted edgewise in co-planar alignment, in combination with cooperating hook and eye means carried respectively by the adjacent frame members of the two panels for holding said panels against edgewise separation in their common plane, and cooperating bolt and keeper means carried respectively by the surfaces of said frame members whereby the bolt may be extended into the keeper to span the joint between the panels and stiffen said joint so as to prevent movement of the panels relatively to each other to an angular relationship less than that of a straight angle.

2. A display board comprising a pair of separate panels having tongued and grooved side frame members for interlocking mutual engagement when the two panels are abutted edgewise in co-planar alignment, in combination with cooperating bolt and keeper means carried respectively by the surfaces of said frame members whereby the bolt may be extended into the keeper to span the joint between the panels and stiffen said joint so as to prevent movement of the panels relatively to each other to an angular relationship less than that of a straight angle.

3. A display board comprising a pair of separate panels having side frame members provided respectively with a projection and a recess adapted to interfit when the two panels are abutted edgewise in co-planar alignment, hook and eye means carried respectively by the adjacent frame members of the two panels for holding said panels against edgewise separation in "their common plane, an intermediate cross rail connecting the side frame members of each panel, the cross rails of adjacent panels being aligned when the panels are'abutted, and coopcrating bolt and keeper means provided on the "respective cross rails of adjacent panels whereby REFERENCES CITED e The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,713,903 Hinkson May 21, 1929 1,754,932 Brown et al. Apr. 15, 1930 1,781,558 Speck Nov. 11, 1930 1,853,142 Overholtz .Apr. .12, 1932 

